Flat knitting machine



M. NEBEL. 2,032,949

FLAT KNITTING MACHINE March 3, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 10, 1952 [/7 1 6/1 for: AJ/ar /Vee &;

March 3, 1936. M. NEBEL FLAT KNITTING MACHINE 4 She ets-Sheet 2 1 Filed Dec. 10, 1932 [Wye/Mari: J/dx Ael M. NEBEL FLAT KNITTING MACHINE March 3, 1936.

Filed Dec. 10, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 flax/142%; v 1

March 3, 1936. M, NEBE L 2,032,949

FLAT KNITTING MACHINE Filed Dec. 10, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 2 1 [/1 V6 for: flax/K9562 Patented Mar. 3, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application December 10, 1932, Serial No. 646,592 In Germany December 14, 1931 4 Claims.

My invention relates to fiat knitting machines, and more particularly to a thread separator for such machines.

It is an object of my invention to improve a 5 flat knitting machine of the kind described.

To this end, in combination with the usual jack and dividing sinkers, I provide a separator comb with a thread separator per dividing sinker, and an upwardly directed projection, or a pair of projections, at the free end of each separator for cooperation with the usual thread guides.

By these means, two or more threads are reliably separated during the sinking and placed into the corresponding throats of the jack and dividing sinkers. In this manner good work of various kinds is knitted, such as plated work, backed cloth, turn-over plated work, coloured patterned work and coloured patterned backed cloth; at the high velocity at which fiat knitting 20 machines are normally operated for knitting plain goods.

In the usual machines, the separation of the threads is influenced by accidental conditions, or by properties of the materials, or by the operating velocity.

This uncertainty is eliminated according to my invention by immediately and mechanically separating the threads and keeping them positively separated until the loops of a complete course has been sunk and the dividing/sinkers advance for dividing them.

There is no variable lead for the thread guides but the thread guides move together and in uni son with the usual lead of the guide for the ground 35 thread.

In the drawings affixed to this specification and forming part thereof a flat knitting machine, various types of separators and sinkers embodying my invention and various knitting operations performed by them, are illustrated diagram- Fig. 8 is a section on the line VIII-VIII in Fig. 3, with parts omitted,

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic plan view showing the thread guides, the needles, the jack and dividing sinkers, and separators according to my 5 invention,

Fig. 10 shows a stage in the knitting of work having a pattern or reinforcing thread in addition to the plating and ground threads,

Fig. 11 shows a stage in the knitting of work 10 backed with loop plush,

Fig. 12 illustrates a stage in the knitting of backed cloth, with separators, having a pair of upwardly directed projections, or a fork at their free ends,

Fig. 13 illustrates a stage in the backing of plated work, also with forked separators,

Fig. 14 shows the front end of a jack sinker, and

Fig. 15 shows the front end of a dividing sinker 20 for performing the operation illustrated in Fig. 13.

Referring now to the drawings, and first to Fig. 1, the frame of the flat knitting machine is built up from a pair of end plates 34, only the rear end plate being visible in Fig. 1, and trans- 5 verse bracing members 35, a and 36.

31 is one of two or more bearings supported by the end plates 34 in which the supporting shaft 38 for the narrowing machine M is mounted to oscillate. 39 are arms on the shaft 38 .and 40 30 is the narrowing shaft which is supported by the free ends of the arms 39. In the example illustrated, the arms 39 are connected to brackets 39a which in turn support the narrowing shaft.

The narrowing machine 4| is secured to the shaft 35 40. 42 are pitmen which are pivotally connected to the narrowing machine 41, or to its-shaft 40, at

their upper ends and to rocking levers 43 at their lower ends. 46 is a cam shaft, are cams on the shaft and 44 is a roller on each rocking arm 40 at the inner ends of the brackets 41 and the 50 braces 49. 5| is one of two or more arms on the shaft 48 which together support a bar I! in which separators l6 are mounted, as will be described. 53 is a lever which is keyed on the shaft 48, 54 is a roller near the lower end of the lever 53, 52 is 55 a cam on the shaft 46 and 55 is a spring which is anchored to the transverse bracing member 36 at one end and to the free end of the lever 53 at its other end, for applying the roller 54 to the cam 52. By a single lever 53, or by any number of levers and cams, as may be required by the length of the machine, the shaft 68 is oscillated and the arms 5I, with the bar II, are rocked about the axis of the shaft.

I, 2, 3 and 4 are thread guides, in is an upper and II is a lower bar for the jack and dividing sinkers which cooperate with the thread guides, and I3 is the bar of the frame needles I2. I4 is a knock-over comb which is arranged below the lower sinker bar II. The two bars III and II and the knock-over comb I4 are assembled on the transverse member 35a.

Various operations which may be performed on the machine illustrated in Fig. 1, and the members by which they are performed, will now be described with reference to Figs.'2 to 22.

Referring first to Figs. 2 to 9, these illustrate several stages in the knitting of the plain or reinforced plated work. 5 is the ground thread,

and 6 is the plating thread. The two threads are supplied, respectively, by the rear thread guide I and the front thread guide 3. The central thread guide 2 is inactive in this operation, being not supplied with thread, or arrested at the beginning or at the end of the courses. I is one of the dividing sinkers and 8 is one of the jack sinkers. The front end of a jack sinker 8 is shown in Fig. 6 and the front end of a dividing sinker is shown in Fig. '7.

Referring first to Fig. 6, 9 is the vertical throat of the jack sinker which extends from. an upper point l9 to a lower point 26. The upper point I9 is at the lower end of a forwardly inclined edge III which extends upwardly as far as the upper edge 6a of the jack sinker. The point 20 is at the upper end of the chin. The dividing sinkers, Fig. 'I, are similar to the jack. sinkers, with a vertical throat Id extending from a point Ib at the base of a forwardly inclined edge to a point 10 at the top of the chin. The upper edge of each dividing sinker is stepped down at la.

The outlet openings of the thread guides 3, 2, I are arranged in the usual manner at a short distance above the stepped-down upper edges Ia (Fig. 'I) of the dividing sinkers I and at a slightly lower level than the upper edges 8a of the jack sinkers 8 (Fig; 6). I 5 is the fabric which is supported by the knock-over comb I4 between whose blades the needles I 2 reciprocate.

The jack and dividing sinkers, the needles I2, and the knock-over comb I4 cooperate in the usual manner. The only difference relates to the operation of the thread guides. In the present instance, the movements which are performed bya single thread guide, for instance, the rear thread guide I, in the usual knitting of plain work, are now performed by those thread guides which are supplied with thread, i. e. the front guide 3 andthe rear guide I in the example illustrated. In other words, those thread guides which are supplied with thread, move together and at the normal velocity imparted to separately operated thread guides in the usual knitting of plain fabrics.

The separators I6 of the separator comb will now be described. A separator I6 is allotted to, and placed in line with, each dividing sinker, as

"best seen in the section, Fig. 8, and a plan view equal to that of the row of' needles I2. Each separator, as best seen in Fig. 4, has a shank I6a, a reduced end I6b, a parallel upper edge I60, and a parallel lower edge I6e. A curved portion I6! extending from the upper edge I60, and a curved portion I 6d extending from the lower edge I6e,

intersect at I69 and define an upwardly directed projection on the free end of the separator.

Just before the sinking operation, the separator comb moves into the separating position illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 in which it remains until the sinking operation has been performed, i. e., until the thread guides have moved through one course. In the separating position, the point I6g of each separator is just below the level of the lower ends or outlet openings of the thread guides 3, 2, I and between those thread guides which are supplied with thread, i. e. the thread guides 3 and I. In this manner, the ground thread 5 is separated from the plating thread 6 by the separators without horizontal shifting of the separators. Each advancing jack sinker 8, Fig. 3, engages the plating thread 6 from the front thread guide 3 by the inclined edge I8 which extends upwardly and in forward direction from the upper end I 9 of the throat 9. while moved forward by the inclined edge I8, is separated from the ground thread 5 by the reduced end I6b of the separator, slides down on the inclined edge I8 as the jack sinker advances, and is finally placed on the parallel upper edge I6c of the separator which is at the level of the point I9 at the upper end .of the throat 9. The curve I6d which extends from thelower parallel edge I Be of the separator to its point I6g, engages the ground thread 5 and moves it down on the vertical portion of the throat 9 until finally it is at point 20 at the lower end of the'throat. Point 20 is the level of the parallel lower edge IBe of the separator. In this manner, the separator, with its shank I6a, holds the plating thread 6 at the point I9 and the ground thread 5 at the point 20 at the upper and lower ends of the throat 8, respectively, by its parallelupper and lower edges I and I6e, respectively. The movement of the plating thread 6 toward the point I9, and the movement of the ground thread 5 toward the point 20, of the throat 9 is favored by the fact that both threads extend in downward and forward direction from the respective thread guides 3 and I.

When the dividing sinkers I advance, dotted lines in Fig. 4, the separator comb is retracted. The comb is also retracted when the fabric is narrowed, and remains retracted throughout the narrowing operation. As has been described with reference to Fig. 1, the bar II of the separator comb moves in an arcuate path about the shaft 48 so that the points and edges of theseparators IE will not interfere with the sunk threads 6 and 5 which the separators hold apart. After the dividing operation has been performed, the needles I2 move down toward the presser bar (not shown) and pull down the loop of the plating thread 6 which is positioned at the point I! of the corresponding jack sinker 8 and at the point Ib, Fig. 7, at the upper end' of the throat Id of the corresponding dividing sinker I, Fig. 7;

down onto the loop of the ground thread 5 which is at point 20 of the jack sinker and at point Ic of the dividing sinker.

Fig. 4 shows the needle I2 at the beginning of its downward movement. Fig. 5 illustrates a period of the return movement toward the initial position of the members, Fig. 2.. The thread- The plaiting thread 6,

ed guides I, 2 and 3 are now at one or at the other end of a course and are ready to resume their operation as soon as the other members have returned into their initial positions. At this period, the jack and dividing sinkers I and 8 move together toward the rear in the direction of arrow A, the needles U! are raised in the direction of arrow B by their,needle bar l3, and the separators I advance in the direction of arrow C.

The importance of the reliable separation of the ground and plating threads will now be illustrated by describing some examples.

Fig. shows the use of my separator for the separation of the plating and ground threads 6 and 5, if a third thread 21 is supplied through the thread guide 4 and only the two threads 5 and 6 are to be separated for producing a pattern of some kind, or for varying the texture of the fabric. As in the examples described with referenc to Figs. 2 to 9, only those thread guides are operated which are supplied with thread, i. e. the guides 4, 3 and I.

Fig. 10 shows the separating position illustrated in Fig. 2 in which, as described, the points |6g are between the thread guides 3 and i. The ground thread 5 is moved to the lower point 20 of the throat 9 in the jack sinkers 8 while the plating thread 6 and the pattern or reinforcing thread 21 are moved to point l9.

Patterns may be knitted with extra plating thread 21' as shown in Fig. 12, by operating the thread guide 2 which was inactive in the examples described, and cutting out the normal plating thread 6 from the thread guide 3, as required by the pattern. I

By shifting the separator comb in the direction of the arrow D it is possible to produce patterns in the ground work. The points "5g of the separators l6 are between the outlet openings of the thread guides 2 and 3 and either the thread guide or the thread guide 2 which are supplied with threads of different properties or different colours, are alternatively cut in and out as-required by the desired pattern. If the separator comb is still further retracted in the direction D, placing the points lBg between theoutlet openings of thread guides 3 and 4, the ground work may be patterned with three threads all having a different colour, or different properties, by cutting in either the thread guide l, 2 or 3.

In the knitting of backed cloth and in turnover plating with my separator comb, it is possible to provide particularly simple backing and turnover sinkers which, notwithstanding their simplicity, are extremely reliable.

In the knitting of work backed with loop plush as shown in Fig. 11, I employ a backing jack sinker 2| whose backing or plush throat is not bordered by a chin in the usual manner but in which a throat 2| b extends vertically downwards from point l9 and is connected to point 20 by an incline. On the backing or plush throat, the thread which is sunk by this sinker can be pulled down or slipped off at any desired moment. The thread which has been sunk on the backing throat and is at I9, is prevented from slipping down by the corresponding separator I6. The backing throat is so far in advance of the point 20 that the loop of the backing thread must be longer than the loop of the ground thread. The position of the backing throat 2Ib and the point 20 is in conformity with the level at which the separators I6 are positioned, the upper parallel edge We of the separator shank I60, being at the level of point l9 while its lower parallel edge l6a is at the level of point 20. The dividing sinkers which cooperate with the backing sinkers 2|, are designed like the dividing sinker in Fig. 7, the points lb and Te being arranged respectively at the level of the points l9 and 20.

Referring now to Fig. 12'which illustrates the knitting of turn-over Work with loop plush backing, jack sinkers 24 are provided which embody a modification of the sinkers 2|. They are equipped with the backing or plush throat 2ib,

'ke the jack sinkers 2! in Fig. 11, but, in addition with a recess 22b, whose depth is about equal to the thickness of the ground thread 5, at the point 21!. The corresponding dividing sinker 25 is without the step at the backing throat 2lb, i. e. its threat is vertical from 25a to a recess in the dividing sinker which corresponds to the recess 22b in the jack sinker 24.

With jack and dividing sinkers as illustrated in Fig. 12, the knitting operation is performed with three threads 5, 6 and 21'. The separators I6 are forked, having in addition to the point l6g as described, a second point 29. The second point 29 is positioned at the same level as the point I6g but is set back from it so that it is between the thread guides 3 and 2, when the point 5g is between the thread guides 2 and I. The separation of the threads is performed with the forked separators in a manner which is analogous to the operation of the plain separators. The third thread 21' from the central thread guide 2 is held by the upper edge of the normal point lfig in downward direction, the same as in the separation of two threads, Figs. 2 to 5, while in upward direction it is held by the lower edge of the second point 29. Consequently, the third or central thread 21 is exclusively guided by the separators l6 which engage it in the notch between the points Mg and 29. The plating thread 6 from the front guide 3 is held by the upper edge of the second point 29 in downward direction, while in upward direction it is held by the inclined edge l8 of the corresponding jack sinker.

Fig. 13 shows the knitting of plated and backed work. The jack sinkers 32 employed for this operation are equipped with a backing or plush throat 32a and a ground-work throat 32b, with an upper point 32c and a lower point 3211, for the plated ground work, Fig. 14. The corresponding dividing sinkers 32 are without a backing or plush throat but only have a vertical throat 330 with an upper point 33a and a lower point 33b, Fig. 15.

It will be understood from the foregoing de-' scription that with a machine having the separator comb according to my invention, it is possible to operate with two or three threads on flat knitting machines having any desired needle division, at the same velocity at which the old machines were operated with a single thread only. In other words, the normal velocity of operationfor plain work is practicable in plating, reinforcing, simple backing, backing of plated or reinforced work, in turn-over plating or coloured patterning and-which is novelin the backing of plated reinforced or turn-over work,

i. e. coloured-pattern work. All these operations In order to move the separator comb out of the way altogether, for instance, if needles I! or sinkers are to be exchanged, or the beginning comb (not shown) is to be inserted, I may provide a handle, or handles, 56, Fig. 1, on the oscil-' lating shaft 48, with a pin 56a on an arm of the handle, or each handle, which is adapted to be engaged by a catch 51. V The catch 51 is fulcrumed at 58 in a block 59 on the bracket 41 and serves for holding the separator comb after it has been moved out -.of the way.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to belimited t0, the exact details of construction shown and described for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

1. In a hat knitting machine, a set of frame needles, a set of jack sinkers each having a notch including a vertical backing throat and a groundwork throat below and at the rear of said backing throat, a set of dividing sinkers,. each having a notch including a vertical throat whose height is equal to the added heights of the two throats in saidjack sinkers, a separator comb adapted to cooperate with said sinkers, a thread separator per dividing sinker on said comb, at least one upwardly curved point at the free end 01' each separator, an upper parallel edge, and a lower parallel edge on each separator, the vertical distance between said edges being equal to the height of the throat in said dividing sinkers.

2. Ina flat knitting machine, a set of frame needles, a set of Jack sinkers, a set of dividing sinkers, thread guides, a separator comb having a thread separator per dividing sinker, an upwardly directed projection on the free end of v needles, a set of jack sinkers, a set of dividing sinkers, thread guides, a separator comb having a thread separator per dividing sinker, a pair of upwardly directed projections on the free end of each separator for cooperation with said thread guides, and means for displacing said comb with respect to said sinkers and thread guides.

'4. In a flat knitting machine, a set of frame needles, a set of jack sinkers each having a throat, a vertical edge in the throat of each jack sinker, a set of dividing sinkers each having a throat, a vertical edge in the throat of each dividing sinker whose height is equal to that of the said vertical edge in the throat of each jack sinker, a separator comb adapted to cooperate with said sinkers, a thread separator per dividing sinker on said comb, at least one upwardly directed projection on the free end of each separator for cooperation with said thread guides, an upper parallel edge, and a lower parallel edge on each separator, the vertical distance between said edges being equal to the height of said vertical edges.

MAX NEBEL. 

